Serious Games and Related Concepts...

This post focuses on the domain of serious games. There are, however, related and sometimes overlapping domains, such as e-learning, edutainment, game-based learning, and digital game-based learning.

E-learning is a rather general concept that refers to computer enhanced learning, computer-based learning, interactive technology, and commonly, distance learning.

Edutainment – education through entertainment – was popular during the 1990s with its growing multi-media PC market. In general, edutainment refers to any kind of education that also entertains even though it is usually associated with video games with educational aims. The primary target group was preschool- and young children, with focus on reading, mathematics, and science. However, edutainment software failed success since it resulted in what has been described as “boring games and drill-and-kill learning”.

Computer video games for non-entertainment purposes were developed long before the edutainment era, however, and as edutainment failed to prove profitable – and technical advancements in providing realistic settings grew, and multiplayer gaming developed – the concept of serious games was re-examined during the late 1990s. With the U.S. Army’s release of the video game America’s Army in 2002, the serious games movement got started. The same year the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholar in Washington, D.C. founded the Serious Games Initiative, and the term “serious games” became widespread.

In general terms, serious games are associated with ‘games for purposes other than entertainment’. Serious games encompass the same goals as edutainment, but extend far beyond teaching facts and rote memorization, and instead include all aspects of education, teaching, training, and informing and at all ages.

Game-based learning (GBL) is described as “a branch of serious games that deals with applications that have defined learning outcomes”. Others consider game-based learning and serious games more or less the same. GBL has the potential of improving training activities and initiatives by virtue of, e.g., its engagement, motivation, role playing, and repeatability.

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) is closely related to GBL, with the additional restriction that it concerns digital games. DGBL is the “newest trend in e-learning”

Also please have a look at the following image taken from University of Skövde, Sweden School of Humanities and Informatics report on Serious Games which clearly describes the differences between Serious Games and Entertainment Games.

Serious Games -- Conferences and Organizations

Following are few Serious Games Conferences and Organizations, may find your interest.

Angils.org (www.angils.org): The European-based (UK) networking organization Angils brings together corporations, groups, and other organizations with industry, with focus on Serious Games and emerging technologies across digital entertainment, the knowledge industries and the media.

Apply Serious Games (www.applyseriousgames.com): The first ASG-conference was held in London, UK 2006. The goal of the conference was to bring together game developers, learning suppliers, publishers, etc., to explore, for instance, effective immersive learning content, correct application design, commercial viability, and innovation in action across many applications.

The American Society of Trainers and Developers (ASTD) (www.astd.org/astd): ASTD is the largest association dedicated to workplace learning and performance. ASTD provides resources and organizes conferences with a focus on, e.g., e-learning.

Christian Game Developers Conference (www.cgdc.org): The Christian Game Developers
Conference is a gathering with the purpose of encouraging game developers to apply Christian principles to their industry.

Cyber Therapy Conference (www.interactivemediainstitute.com/): The Interactive Media
Institute (IMI) is a non-profit organization working for the application of advanced technologies for patient care. The Institute is actively working with experts in utilizing virtual reality, multimedia, computer-generated avatars, personal robots, and other technologies to treat patients with both mental and physical disorders. The Cyber Therapy Conference, held in Switzerland, brings together researchers, clinicians, and funds to share and discuss the field of Cyber Therapy. Technologies include virtual reality simulations, videogames, telehealth, the Internet, robotics, and noninvasive physiological monitoring devices.

Defense Gaming (www.defencegaming.org): Defense Gaming is an initiative by different
Swedish defense government agencies to study, research, and explore the conjunction of the computer and video games world and the military.

Department of Defense (DoD) Game Developers’ Community (www.dodgamecommunity.com): The aim of DoD Game Developers’ Community is to bring together the community developing games within the US military. The web site, among other things, supply information on most major games developed for the Department of Defense and gives design advice on building games.

Digital Games Research Association (DiGra) (www.digra.org): DiGRA is an association for academics and professionals who research digital games and associated phenomena. DIGRA encourages research on games, and promotes collaboration and dissemination of work by its members. The aim of the annual conference (www.digra.org/digra_conference; www.gamesconference.org/) is to bring together all who can provide insights about digital games, from academia to industry, across a wide range of disciplines and expertise, and so be able to get a greater holistic understanding of games, their impacts, and potential.

Education Arcade, Games in Education Conference (www.educationarcade.org , currently redirected to www.educationarcade.org/node): The conference explores issues in the development, use, and marketing of educational games. The initiative seeks to encourage research and development of educational games.

Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) (www.elspa.com): ELSPA is a UK association, comprising interactive entertainment industry, protecting, promoting, and providing both for its members and for the industry as whole. Activities include, e.g., industry reports and research, and official games charts and analysis.

Futurelab (www.futurelab.org.uk): is a non-profit organization committed to sharing the knowledge and experience learnt from their research and development in order to inform positive change to educational policy and practice.

Future Play (www.futureplay.org): The conference focuses on three themes: a) future game development, which addresses academic research, and emerging industry trends in the area of game technology and game design, b) future game impacts and applications, which includes academic research and emerging industry trends focused on designing games for learning, for gender, for serious purposes, and to impact society, and c) future game talent, which is designed to provide a number of industry and academic perspectives on the knowledge, skills, and attitude it takes to excel in the games industry.

Games for Change (G4C) (www.seriousgames.org/gamesforchange/): G4C is the social change/social issues branch of the Serious Games Initiative. G4C focuses on non-profit organizations and promotes games for societal change. The organization has an annual conference.

Games for Health (www.gamesforhealth.org/): The Serious Games Initiative founded Games for Health to develop a community and platform for games being built for health care applications. The annual conference brings together researchers, medical professionals, and game developers to share information about the impact games and game technologies can have on health care and policy.

Games, Learning, and Society Conference (www.glsconference.org): The conference brings together academics, designers, and educators to discuss how game technologies can enhance learning, culture, and education. One aim of the conference is to prevent the issues of learning and the social role of games from getting lost in the cause of industry building.

G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit (www.synergysummit.com): G.A.M.E.S. is an acronym for Government, Academic, Military, Entertainment and Simulation. The conference, which started in 2005 and is expected to be annual, brings together leaders and participants from each of the above sectors.

International Association of Games Education Research (IAGER) (www.iager.org): IAGER is a non-profit member organization dedicated to promoting and improving educational games through educational game research and shared resources. IAGER intends to hold an annual conference. International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA www.isaga.org). ISAGA is an international organization for scientists and practitioners developing and using simulation, gaming, and related methodologies. The main goals include enhancing the development and application of simulation and gaming methodologies in particularly the social, human, and technological domains. ISAGA has an annual conference.

The Inter service/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC)
(www.iitsec.org): The conference promotes cooperation among the Armed Services,
Industry, Academia and various Government agencies in order to improve training and education programs, identify common training issues, and develop multi service programs.

Learning in Video Games (learninginvideogames.com): The website provide news, articles, and other resources on the use of video games for learning and educational purposes. Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (www.nextmed.com/mmvr_virtual_reality.html). The conference is intended to be a forum for, e.g., encouraging and sharing research on virtual reality tools for clinical care and medical education. The intended audience is healthcare professionals and educators, computer technologists, biomedical futurists, and military medicine specialists.

The Serious Game Initiative (www.seriousgames.org): The Serious Games Initiative focus on the use for games in exploring management and leadership challenges facing the public sector. Part of its aim is to help form links between the electronic game industry and projects involving the use of games in education, training, health, and public policy.

The Serious Games Summit D.C. (www.seriousgamessummit.com): The Serious Games
Summit D.C., produced by the CMP Game Group and held in Washington D.C., places focus on exploring new ways to broaden the spectrum addressed by serious games. The core segments of serious games - military, government, healthcare, corporate training and education - play a major role at the conference.

Social Impact Games (www.socialimpactgames.com): Social Impact Games is a web site which catalogues serious games. Currently over 200 serious games are listed.

Visuals and Simulation Technology Conference and Exhibition (ViSTech) (www.halldale.com/vistech/): The first ViSTech conference and exhibition was held in
2005. It aims to bring experts in the visual technologies closer together with professionals in simulation and training. The conference is directed toward commercial and military designers, manufacturers, and users of visual system technology, and covers the use of game technology in military and government applications.

Is there is any difference between e-Learning and serious games?

Serious games provides the learner with an opportunity to actually put the theory into practice in an environment that is realistic but where failure has no real life costs. As a wise man once said "Experience is like giving a comb to a bald man...it often comes too late!"

Serious Games could be argued to be just one way of using technology to enhance learning - eLearning is itself just a niche of this marketplace if one considers DVD, video and interactive whiteboards as technology-based learning resources. On the other hand, eLearning, if it is defined as web/internet-based learning content and delivery/collaborative applications, has become somewhat typecast in it's nature with an emphasis on delivering information (which few would consider to be interactive) albeit with a few ‘bolt on’ communication and shallow assessment instruments.

It is important to distinguish between what eLearning does well, which is providing you with information (the theory), and what it does not. The latter being the provision of rich, rewarding, relevant and multi-faceted environments in which one can actually put the theory into practise in a safe, simulated manner and to learn at a far deeper level as a result.

The design and development competencies of the eLearning developer and the game developer are quite different.

eLearning as a strategic tool

E-learning applications are not new as a tool for people development. However, throughout the years the view on its design and implementation has evolved in order to guarantee its biggest effectiveness. Many of the predictions on e- learning development were not fulfilled as it was expected….




Some additional thoughts:

1. Big enterprises have platforms which allow them to spread training solutions through the staff and collaborators.

2. Changes on Market are appreciated: Quality predominates over quantity. The technological investment on platforms and equipment will be paid off not by the volume of courses and applications but by the effective involvement of the employees

3. The ability to surprise is a crucial element for the involvement of the participants. So, as time goes by it becomes more difficult to surprise and motivate through a screen.…

These facts have caused an interesting evolution in Market: as time proved that e-learning implementation was not as easy as it was thought, the exploitation possibilities and therefore the organizations requirements regarding its impact increased.

Well then… What should we expect today from an e -learning application?

1. Elearning can transfer knowledge: of course it can. It is quite easy to transfer objective knowledge through an e - learning application. The effort of the designer will be focused on making comprehensible concepts which will not be debatable because of its objectivity.

EXAMPLES:
.Knowledge of the product.
.Knowledge of use or process.
.Knowledge of sector or market
.Knowledge of Enterprise


2. Elearning can develop skills: It is also possible .However , the aim becomes more difficult to achieve .We must not forget human factors when developing skills, whose treatment may demand a personal relationship in a face to face session in order to get an involvement in the action.

EXAMPLES:
.Sales technique
.Negotiation
.Time Management
.Leadership


3. Elearning can motivate and change behaviors:
The Real Challenge starts here. We are talking about projects that aim to introduce a new way to do things. We do not deal with teaching knowledge, we do not deal with practicing skills, it consists in attaining attitude changes….. and on these occasions, it becomes really difficult to replace the motivational role of a facilitator in the classroom by a Computer application

EXAMPLES:
.Implementation of Commercial Protocols
.Competences development
.Enhancement of rules and internal processes
.Implementation of Management Protocols


4. The great challenge: Elearning can support the implementation of strategic changes within the organization. This way, the application becomes not only a training and development tool, but also an internal communication tool for motivation and even the engine that boosts changes within the organization. It is not strange that challenge increases as difficulty does……………..


EXAMPLES:
.Implementation of Commercial Strategies
.Implementation of organizational changes
.Implementation of models of competences
.Strategic deployment of the Business view

Learning Revolution 2.0

Learners are leading the revolution to take control of their environment through social networking. The LMS is dead. Instructional designers are obsolete. Taxonomies become folksonomies. Let me tell you how the new tools of Web 2.0 will change the learning space.




What is Web 2.0?

. The “Web as a platform” – delivering and using applications/through a web browser.

. The transition of web sites from isolated information entities to sources of content and functionality, thus becoming computing platforms serving web application to users.

. A social phenomenon embracing an approach to generating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralized of authority, freedom to share and reuse.

. Enhanced organization and categorization of content, emphasizing tagging, linking and folksonomies.

. Facilitates participation, collaboration, sharing and democracy to driverelevancy of content creation/consumption.

Applicability to Learning?

. Age of participation
. Fostering and promotion of Community
. “You” connected to “Me” and “Everybody” as a subject matter expert on “Something” with real time collaboration, interaction and feedback. Individuals contribute their knowledge and experiences to the learning environment

The six components of Enterprise 2.0
SEARCH: For any information platform to be valuable, its users must be able to find what they are looking for?

LINKS: Facilitating better search, Links are the excellent guide to what’s important and provides structure to online content. As more links can be built by larger communities, it is easier to find more relevant information.

AUTHORING: Most people have something to contribute, whether its knowledge, insight, experience, a comment, a fact, an edit, a link, and so on, and authorship is a way to harness these contribution.

TAGS: Supporting the categorization of the content by the many rather than the few.

EXTENSIONS: Providing users with association of recommended content- “if you like this” “you may like that”

SIGNALS: Ability to highlight to user when new information has been created. Include email and syndication(RSS)

Web 2.0 Enablers

Social Software

Enable people to participate, connect or collaborate through the web resulting in online communities.

Tools include: User Profile, Instant Messaging, Text Chat, Internet Forums, Blogs, Wikis, Collaborative real time editor.

Wiki:

Website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content, typically without the need for registration. It also allows for linking among any number of pages. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring. Examples include Wikipedia, LyricWiki

Blogs:

Slang for weblog, it is the user driven website where content entries are authored in journal style. Blogs evolved from online diaries and provide mechanism for people to create content and commentary on anything of interest. Features of blogs include the ability to readers to comment. Blogs are evolving to include different media types including Vlog (Video Log), Photoblog (Photos) and Tumblelogs (mixed media and commentary)

Folksonomies:

User generated taxonomy use to categorize, find, link to and comment on content using tagging. Because the identification of content is facilitated by the community, it can be more relevant, responsive to change and personal.

Tagging:

A keyword term associated with or assign to a piece of information, thus describing the item and enabling keyword based classification of information it is applied to. The power of community based tagging is associating more meaning and context to the content.

Tag Clouds:

A visual depiction to content tags used on website or specific page to convey the key concepts and weighted relevancy of the information. Selecting single tag within the tag cloud will generally lead to a collection of items that are associated with that tag.

Syndication:

Syndication of content on website allows end users to make use of another sites date in multiple context’s, varying from a website, browser plugin or application. Protocols that permit syndication include RSS and ATOM. Syndication allows content to come to users rather than users going to the content.

Podcasts:

A digital media file that is distributed over the internet using syndication feeds for playback on media players and computers. Facilitates people to create content and share audio information with listeners. A podcast is distinguished from other digital media formats by its ability to downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or ATOM.


Web 2.0 Sites worth checking out:
Netvibes
Flickr
YouTube
Facebook
Wikipedia
Digg
Del.icio.us

eLearning Trends

Hi folks, while checking eLearning updates for this month, I came across Stephen Downes presentation on eLearning trends.

Here Stephen is talking about how eLearning industry is leveraging Web 2.0 to make their eLearning interactive, effective and engaging. I hope the below presentation will definitely clear your understanding about eLearning 2.0 technology.

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